Welcome to my post all about Day 2 of the 48hrs Feast of Fife.
We started at 10am and headed to St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company just near Anstruther to meet with Jane Stewart and learn all about their cheese. Jane spoke us through how she became the only cheese maker in Fife, it was great listening to her as she was very passionate about it. All around their store were lovely quotes all about never giving up and to reach for your goals, it was very homely.
In this photo right in the distance you can see a field full of cows. Jane explained how they have all been milked at 4am that morning, which they use to make their cheeses including the Award Winning Anster cheese.
Obviously we couldn't go and hear all about these cheeses without trying them, here we have the Anster cheese, Anster Cheddar and Red Anster with herbs and garlic. This was also accompanied by their homemade oatcakes, they were quite sweet with complimented the Anster Cheddar very well.
We also tried some other their homemade cheese scones and cheese biscuits.
You can also buy all their cheeses along with many other cheese from around the country in the Store.
After being rolled into our minibus, we headed back through St Andrews and to Balgove Larder for some lunch. Balgove Larder is made up of a lovely Farm Shop, Butchery, Cafe and Steak Barn. What is great about Balgove is that everything they raise and grow travels just a few miles and most of the time ends up in their store. They also have a lovely quaint Flower Shed with a mixture of fresh flowers, cacti and succulents (one of which now lives on my desk).
We headed into the Steak Barn which is more or less made up of box pallets. It has a great rustic charm that can be enjoyed all year round as they have fire pits inside that help keep it toasty.
Almost as soon as we sat down boards full of food were placed in front of us to try. Here we have a sharing double platter that has two Rump Steaks, Chips, onion rings in a beautiful beer batter and some veg - This is ideal for a date night!
Here is one of their Bacon and Mozzarella Burgers. The good thing about the Steak barn is along side their Menu they have add ons, depending on what is available from the Farm.
Here is my favoured board, Seasoned Chicken Kebab with chips, nice and simple but packs a punch with the Flavour!
After our Feast, we had some free time to explore the shop where I bought a few little presents for Sam and April including the world's smallest bottle of Whisky - a nice novelty!
Before we headed to Fife we had the option of two trips, Trip A which included a tour of Eden Mill and some Gin and Chocolate then some Foraging or Trip B which was a visit to Crail for some Lobster and to Kingsbarns Distillery for some Whisky - I went with Trip A - Gin and Chocolate, hello!
We split into our two groups and we headed to Eden Mill in Guardbridge. Eden Mill is on the site where the Haig family back in 1810 first laid down Whisky. Now Eden Mill are Scotland's first original combined Brewery and Distillery.
The staff at Eden Mill do everything by hand, filling, bottling, capping and even labelling - that's a lot of work! They pride themselves in their Hands On approach, their staff touch, smell and taste - and hey, they even use produce from all around Scotland. Whatever your tipple is, Gin, Beer or whisky you can get them all at Eden Mill - but I was their for the Gin, there was no doubt about that!
Once we were told all about Eden Mill's History we were taken on our tour. We were told all about their different flavours of Gin. They have the Original which is your standard G & T Gin, Hop Gin which is a unique creation of Gin and Beer. Love Gin which is the Famous Pink gin, with discreet floral and berry notes. Oak gin which is made by soaking oak casks in the barrel. Last but not least, the Golf Gin, this changes every year and 2016's Golf Gin is inspired by the botanicals that grow around the coastal golf courses of Scotland.
We were shown the stills, where the bottles are filled and capped. It's a small operation but again, you can tell they're passionate about what they do!
After all that walking, we were parched so it was just right that we had some Gin! We sampled all but the Golf Gin, we started with the Gin alone, then with the Chocolate and then with a mixer. I defiantly loved the Love Gin and Ginger beer - delicious!
A quick wonder round their shop and a cheeky purchase of their new venture, Gin Cocktails (wow) and a Love Gin T-Shirt it was time to leave. The staff were really lovely and hospitable so if you find yourself in the Fife area and a litter parched then head in - you're in for a treat.
To walk off our little buzz we went to the nearby Eden River for a spot of Foraging. Our guide spoke about things to do and not to do while out foraging but to be completely honest I didn't take much in - but that was maybe the Gin's fault. I did however find out what Sloe Berries look like so I'll be on the look out for them so I can make my very own sloe gin!
That was my 48hrs Feast of Fife Experience and what an Experience it was. I throughly enjoyed myself and met some amazing people and ate in some amazing places! If you are in Fife and on the lookout for somewhere great to eat then I highly recommend any of the places we went! Thank you to everyone who participated in the weekend, also to everyone who contributed to our amazing goodie bag and to Fife Tourism and the Welcome to Fife Team.
Disclaimer: I was invited along but paid my £25 for the ticket. Everything else was included (I know, such a great deal) all opinions are my own.
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